The Mystery of Olga's Day Off: Another Tail of Phoebe & Mags Worthington

                  More Tails featuring Phoebe and Mags Worthington

                              

                                                       Phoebe and Mags Worthington

The Mystery of  Olga’s Day Off 

Time Setting – London 1948

                                   CHARACTER LIST

OLGA - Cook at  “The Mews” Belgravia, of Russian decent

NATASHA – Kitchen Maid at “ The Mews” Belgravia, of Ukrainian decent

MAGS WORTHINGTON - Ward of Dame Katrina Ogilvy

DAME KATRINA OGILVY- aka "Madame"- Mistress at “ The Mews” Belgravia- An Opera Singer

PHOEBE WORTHINGTON – Ward of Dame Katrina Ogilvy, sister of Mags

CLARENCE, DM - A veteran war pigeon

CAROLINE DU BARRY - A novelist

BIG ALF - A kestrel

                                              Olga - The Russian Cook at " The Mews"

On  Fridays when Olga the Cook  was on her half day break, Natasha, the Ukrainian kitchen maid had responsibility for  preparing the luncheon.  But Olga was always back in situ by the time the evening’s dinner menu was prepared, cooked and served.

No one at  “The Mews”  actually knew what Olga did during her time off, no questions were ever  asked and Olga said nothing.

 Mags Worthington

Mags Worthington, one of the wards of Dame Katrina Ogilvy,  owner of  “The Mews” was fed up. She was curious  about where Olga spent her time off.  In fact the truth was that Mags was growing increasingly concerned and suspicious about Olga.

Mags confided her anxiety to her big sister, Phoebe.

“ I think Olga’s a fake!! " said Mags, folding her arms in frustration.

Phoebe was making herself  ready for the day ahead and powdering her nose. 

Her reply to her sister  was one single word, a word she used a lot since she first heard it on the wireless.

 “Tommyrot” snapped Phoebe.

                                                 Phoebe and Mags Worthington

Mags hadn’t finished mooting her argument and began to itch and tug out her hair out in clumps with a comb.

“ I tell you Phoebe dear, Olga is just not the same. She smells different.”

In truth, Phoebe had sensed this stranger in their midst too but had been afraid to say anything.

Mags was now in full throttle over how she felt, and declared, in a voice that was  broken with emotion :

“ For all we know Olga is plotting something against Madame or Natasha, or even you and me Phoebe,  some despicable deed on behalf of some foreign power.”

“ What nonsense, Mags, your imagination is running away with you ” said Phoebe, sounding harsher than she really wanted to be.

                                                                Dame Katrina Ogilvy

In another part of “The Mews”  Dame Katrina Ogilvy,   a notable opera singer with Caledonian Opera  was rehearsing for a performance at the Albert Hall. Having  had breakfast and completed her morning correspondence much earlier than usual she was making for the music room to practice her latest study of Puccini with the heart rendering ‘Senze Mamma’ from Suor Angelica.

Back in the  morning room Mags Worthington  continued to be troubled  by her concerns about Olga, the Cook.  Her inner feelings were more like  suspicion  and  she contrived a  plan to have Olga’s followed and watched.

 “ It’s called surveillance” said Mags.  Phoebe, Mags’ big sister sighed deeply.

 Outside  "The Mews"   Phoebe overheard  Mags play out the detail of  her  I - spy game with a mutual friend named  Clarence, who often visited the back garden at the “The Mews” looking for titbits.

Clarence was an old  pigeon.  But he was no ordinary bird, he was a homing pigeon. Moreover, he was a war veteran, having served  during WW2  in the army’s secret Pigeon Service based at Wing House, Piccadilly,  London W1.

                                                                          Clarence DM

Clarence was really Clarence DM,  he’d won the rare Dicken Medal for bravery, working on missions with MI 14  over the English Channel and in occupied Holland.

After the war Clarence had been resettled by the Pimlico Waifs and Strays – an organisation that,  inter alia, offered counselling and refuge to any creature whose life had been upturned by war or  by crime or by abuse from humans.

As Clarence had once been part of a  wartime pigeon loft in and around  Victoria, he was reassigned to live back in  Pimlico. In the three years since the war ended his rehabilitation was  almost complete, except for the terrible nightmares that still haunted him and broke his sleep.

Phoebe was agitated.

“ What on earth are you two pixies trying to achieve?” asked Phoebe, who thought the whole plan was intrusion and an invasion of Olga’s privacy.

                                                                  Phoebe Worthington 

 “ No good will come of this, mark my words” on which note Phoebe decided to find a quiet spot in the parlour to read her book.

                                                                 Caroline Du Barry

Before  making her Friday morning  exit from  “The Mews”  Olga popped her head in to see Dame Katrina to assure her that Natasha was geared up for the day’s luncheon, with only one guest expected, namely the romantic novelist, Caroline Du Barry, who was coming to deliver her latest best seller  “ A Twisted Tail of Love and Hate”.

                                                             

                                                                      Pampushki

Luncheon  would be a simple two course affair – with a touch of the nourishing cuisine from the  Ukraine. Borscht with garlic fritters, a speciality from  Natasha; she called the fritters pampushki. She would also offer  stuffed cabbage rolls and semolina pudding with cherries poltava. It was a mystery where Olga and Natasha got all  the ingredients for the meals served at “ The Mews”, but the rumour was that Olga had friends in high places.  

Mags had alerted Clarence to Olga’s imminent departure from  "The Mews".

Olga was on schedule. On her  Friday mornings off  she always wore her  black coat, with a high collar with fur cuffs, some simple, but smart boots,  and a fashionable black rimmed hat with matching gloves. She would easily have passed off  as a secretary or an office worker on her way to work.   She carried a little leather case that gave her a slightly sinister air of being involved in espionage. 

 Pausing briefly, she looked at her watch. It was exactly 9.30am.

A Routemaster,  bus No 24 was due and Olga was soon on board.

 Clarence was  perched on the gable end of “The Mews” and ready to go into action.

Clarence’s heart was racing, he was not quite the supreme and fit young bird that had once  taken on  impossible missions behind enemy lines and survived.  But he had agreed to help Mags and was keen to please.  He well remembered his heroic  wartime motto at MI 14 of “ We Also Serve”.

The plan was  for Clarence to  hover over the path of Olga’s outward  journey from  “The Mews”  and observe and report back to Mags.

Clarence soon observed Olga take the Red Routemaster, bus No 24 headed for  Trafalgar Square.

                                  

                               Westminster Abbey, St Margaret's Church and Big Ben

Instinctively Clarence knew his flight path, but as he was feeling a bit chesty he  took his time over  effecting  the route as it was  challenging  journey  through Victoria Street, passing down over  Westminster Abbey,  St Margaret's Church and on to Parliament Square, passing  Big Ben,  through Whitehall towards Trafalgar Square. 

But,  Clarence wasted no time en route  when he sensed potential  dangers from unfriendly birds, a family of  sparrow hawks and kestrels, that roosted in one of the bell towers of St Margaret’s.

                       

                                                                              Big Alf

Clarence had been spotted by Big Alf, a cross-eyed kestrel that claimed the tallest bell tower at St Margaret’s as his lone perch and  home.  He would keep at least one eye on Clarence and choose his moment to pounce.

Big Alf had also worked for the army in WW2 with  MI 14,  intercepting  German pigeons carrying messages back to the Fatherland. Although his eyesight was now very  poor Big Alf  thought there was a familiar look about this pigeon encroaching on his territory.

 

                                                                   Trafalgar Square

On board  the  No 24  Red Routemaster Olga was busy  powdering her nose  and fumbling with a small mirrored  compact case.

She  appeared to be sending a message in Morse code against the sun’s light. Clarence’s army training identified it as a heliograph, a semaphore system that uses signals by flashes of sunlight.

Clarence was alarmed, he  felt a bad memory stirring of being behind enemy lines in the Low Countries.  He just about grasped  the meaning of the message and swallowed hard on his tongue at the words  G** G****** R**** 

Determined to carry on, Clarence followed Olga’s bus  and despite an additional  real and present danger from Big Alf, the cross-eyed  kestrel living in the bell tower of St Margaret’s Church –also flying near  his orbit in the sky- and who had twice shot past with a menacing grin.   

Clarence was now  hovering above the junction of   Whitehall and Trafalgar Square  and paused in flight as Olga alighted the No 24 bus.

                                                Trafalgar Square-Looking towards Whitehall

Clarence  steadily moved a bit closer to observing  Olga’s bus and landed on  one of Lanseer’s stone lions. At the same time on the other side of the Square beside  The National Gallery,   Olga  alighted the No 24 Routemaster.

 

Olga feeds the pigeons in Trafalgar Square

Olga soon seated herself  beside one of the Square’s  fountains. She put her hand in her case and brought out some tit bits for the Square’s ravenous pigeons.

Temped to descend  to snatch one of  Olga’s treats, Clarence had a clear view – and thought he’d solved the mystery of what Olga did on her day off,  it was simple- she just  fed the birds in the Square. Clarence thought “ how very kind and noble  a human”.  

However, this token of empathy to the pigeons  was not all there was to Olga being in Trafalgar Square.

Olga took her mirrored compact out of her case – just as she had done on the bus -and appeared to signal in the direction of the far right of the Square. Clarence tried to interpret the message but the strong rays of the  sun were in the way.

 

       Trafalgar Square and the Spire ( right) of  the  Church of St Martin's In The Field

Eventually Olga crossed over the Square to walk in the direction of “ St Martin’s In The Fields, Church”.   Her pace quickened  and within a few minutes she disappeared inside the Church.

Clarence  was distracted by an attack by "Big Alf", the kestrel,  but soon saw him off.

Injured, but determined to complete his mission, Clarence swooped down on  a window sill on the port side of the Church.

He looked inside and there he saw  Olga. He gulped again on his tongue.

Clarence had seen similar scenes before in war torn Europe.  He realised the full significance of  Olga's Morse code message 

G** G****** R**** = Get Gipsies Ready

Clarence wept.

The scene inside St Martin's In The Field Church 

In a large room were refugee Gipsies, dozens of  them, men, women and children, obviously uprooted from their homes, some probably from Berlin, a City then under seize or displaced Russians or Poles. Europe was still in disarray, even  although the war had ended in 1945.

Olga was wearing  a military uniform  and clearly giving orders.  Clarence recognised Olga's cap badge as the rank of a Major in the  Intelligence Corps.  A posy of other military types were processing  the  people in the room. 

Outside in a sheltered area stood a US army truck and guard.

The mystery was solved of what Olga did on her half day off!

 TO BE CONTINUED ( PURRHAPS)!!

 

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